Deviousness At Its Best
by Kitten Kisses
Summary: For the Microfic\Drabble Christmas Edition Meme on Livejournal. Colette plays matchmaker to an unsuspecting couple. Requested by Sabriel41.


**Deviousness At Its Best  
By: Manna

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**…_xOx…_**

**The Microfic/Drabble Meme!  
Christmas Edition!  
Requested By: **_**Sabriel41 (FFN)**_  
Prompt: Matchmaker Colette!  
Spice: Peppermint  
Pairing/Characters: Colette, Regal, Raine  
Fandom: _Tales of Symphonia

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…_**xOx…**_

Nobody would ever suspect that she, Colette Brunel, was capable of such a cunning, devious plot. No, it would be impossible for one to determine that she was the culprit. She was too sweet, too innocent…

She giggled to herself as she finished her plan.

It was crude, but Lloyd would have been proud if she felt inclined to share her Super Secret Idea with him. She wasn't going to share, though, because she knew he wouldn't understand. After all, she still remembered the last conversation they had had on the subject…

_"What's the professor looking at?" Lloyd blinked curiously as he attempted to follow his teacher's gaze and got constantly distracted by other things._

"_Regal." His blonde friend smiled prettily and then sighed. "Lloyd, do you think maybe she likes him?"_

"_Eh?!" Now paying strict attention, he turned to look at her. "Don't be creepy, Colette. She's only studying his rheumatoid arthritis."_

_Colette's eyes widened in confusion. "W-what?" she asked. "That doesn't make any sense!"_

_He scratched at his head and grinned sheepishly. "I don't know what it means, but I heard the professor say it once. It sounded cool." He stared over at them again, and noticed how the half-elf was watching ye olde ex-criminal with sharp hawk-like eyes. "She looks like she's about to devour him."_

"_I think she likes him, Lloyd. Maybe they were meant to be! Maybe fate—"_

"_Nah," he said. "I'll bet she's studying how he cooks. She's filing away information in her mind… The potatoes, he cuts them just so… The carrots, thinly sliced…"_

She sighed heavily. No, he wouldn't understand. It had to be fate that had thrown the pretty schoolteacher into the path of a duke of Tethe'alla. She smiled happily and climbed into the tree by the campsite.

Its branches hung out over the fire that Regal would, at any given moment, be standing near to cook food.

With any luck, her plan would go swimmingly.

Now, if only she could get up the tree without falling dow—_Thud!_

So much for that. But Colette didn't give up, she never has, and so she tried again.

And again. And again. And finally, she manages to cling to that one special branch with her Extraordinary Fishing Pole.

That she made all by herself.

…_**xOx…**_

Lloyd and Zelos returned to the campsite with firewood, and instantly, the noise started.

Sheena had been minding her own business when Zelos came up to her and started flirting, so of course she had to yell at him. That in turn made Lloyd tell Zelos to behave himself, which made Sheena yell at Lloyd to stop interfering because she could take care of herself.

Not even two seconds later, she felt she had to apologize, but it was hard considering Lloyd was halfway across the camp by now, and Zelos kept telling her how beautiful she looked when she was angry.

On his way to the other side of the camp, Genis, practicing his spells, accidentally splashed Lloyd with a weak _Aqua Edge_, and Lloyd snapped at him, which made Genis's temper flare, which made Presea blink, which gave Raine a headache.

Regal calmly chopped vegetables up for a salad throughout the whole ordeal.

"Children will be children," he chuckled when Raine came to stand beneath the relative safety of the tree he was cooking under. "I see you've given up ordering them to act like adults."

The half-elf woman sighed. "Yes," she answered. "After getting laryngitis for the fourth time, I determined that…really, it's not worth it." She cracked a smile and watched him dice carrots and tomatoes. "How _do_ you do that? It's very fascinating."

He raised an eyebrow, and Colette giggled from her hiding spot.

Any moment now…

"Practice," he replied. "They say it makes perfect. Though after being in prison for so long, I must admit…my skills have gotten a bit rusty. It's nice to have the chance to sharpen them again."

"Rusty? I hardly believe that." She put her hand to her chin as if in thought as Genis blasted Lloyd with another _Aqua Edge_ and Lloyd tackled him to the ground in retaliation.

"I used to be much better." The sound of Sheena's palm connecting with Zelos's face echoed throughout the entire camp.

Neither Regal nor Raine batted an eyelash. "I can only imagine…" She moved to stand closer to him, and put her hands out over the fire. "It's starting to get much colder, now. I wouldn't be surprised if it begins to snow in the next couple of days."

"Do you think so? Then," he muttered, raising his eyes to watch Genis smack Lloyd in the forehead with his kendama as Sheena stomped away from the red-faced Chosen of Tethe'alla, "I suppose we'll have regular snowball fights to keep us amused."

"Which is fine, so long as one doesn't touch me." She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Really, even though the winter season is a necessity, I do believe I despise it."

He smiled, amused, and that was when Colette chose to enact Plan A: Get the Professor with Regal.

With careful aim, and being sure to hold onto the branch tightly, she lowered her Extraordinary Fishing Pole.

A sprig of mistletoe dangled from the tiny hook on the end and moved back and forth in the breeze between the man and woman below her.

"What the—" Raine started, and her companion's eyes followed her gaze to blink confusedly at it.

"Mistletoe?" he muttered, his food forgotten for the time being. He looked down at Raine.

She winked at him. "I suppose you know what that means," she said lightly, smoothing her hair down as Colette bit her lip to keep from grinning in excitement. With another wink to the ex-convict in front of her, Raine Sage pointed discreetly upward.

"Must be Colette," she whispered.

He nodded slightly and winked back, clearly amused at the situation. "Do you think the spirit of the tree wants us to…?"

"Spirit of the tree?" Raine murmured, a smile stretching across her face. "That sounds ridiculous." She crinkled her nose slightly and spoke louder, "Well, maybe we should do what the spirit says, lest it—"

Just then, a resounding crash sounded in their ears, and amazingly, it wasn't that of Sheena beating Zelos's head into a tree trunk, or even one of Genis's attacks.

Colette came tumbling down from the tree, her fishing pole coming afterward. "O-ouch," she whined, clamoring back to her feet and smiling sheepishly as Raine wandered off to find a book, chuckling to herself.

"Are you all right?"

She nodded. "S-Sorry about that…"

"What was that…all about?" he asked, going back to his cooking.

Quick! She had to uhm…make an excuse. "Well," she began, blinking her large blue eyes at him innocently, "I was waiting for Sheena and Zelos to stand under there and…uh… It slipped."

She looked so angelic and sweet, there was no way that Regal couldn't believe her. "Be more careful next time," he said. "We don't want you to hurt yourself on accident."

Just then, Zelos wandered by.

The big red handprint on his face glowed angrily, and the little blonde angel almost grimaced at how terrible it looked. Whistling cheerfully, he plucked the sprig of mistletoe from the end of Colette's abandoned Extraordinary Fishing Pole and ambled off.

Maybe…

Maybe someone should warn Sheena…

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…_**xOx…**_

**Author Notes:**

This was fun to write. I don't really have anything else to say on the matter. Ah, thanks for reading, and please leave feedback if you have the time!


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